On Monday, August 11, the newly appointed Minister of Resources of Ukraine Oleksiy Sobolev held his first meeting with representatives of environmental NGOs. Natalia Gozak, Director of Greenpeace Ukraine, also took part in the meeting to voice key environmental challenges that require immediate response from the state.

The meeting took place three weeks after the appointment of the new government, when the separate Ministry of Environmental Protection was replaced by a combined Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture. Experts have already expressed concern that this decision could weaken environmental protection and jeopardize Ukraine’s European integration commitments.

Minister Sobolev said he sees the merger of the three ministries as “synergy between the economy, ecology, and agriculture” and promised that the environmental component would not be overlooked. Among the priorities, he named the development of a circular economy, the introduction of the Do No Significant Harm principle (the principle means that any action or project that is funded must not cause significant harm to any of the six EU environmental goals), creating conditions for irrigation after the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, and attracting investment.

During the meeting, Natalia Gozak, representing Greenpeace Ukraine, emphasized the importance of:

  • Ukraine signing the Agreement on the High Seas as soon as possible, which has been blocked following a change of ministers;
  • responding to the construction of foundations for a wind farm on the Runa plateau in the Carpathians without an environmental impact assessment;
  • the publication of information about the environmental consequences of the Russian drone attack on the new safe confinement of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in February 2025;
  • the conduct of a technical environmental impact assessment of the planned completion of power units No. 3 and No. 4 of the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant.

Greenpeace Ukraine welcomes this meeting and expects the ministry to take concrete action on the priorities announced to the public.